The Boston Globe reported Wednesday on how record numbers of families are now being sheltered in motels.

In October 2007, 27 families were housed in Massachusetts motels. The number rose steeply in the last year, as the economy collapsed, many became unemployed, and foreclosures skyrocketed. The number of families sheltered in motels went from just over 100 in May 2008, to 751 families (including 1,000 children) in 39 motels as of June 2009.

This is necessary because there just aren’t enough places to rehouse people right now. But one effect is that people are living in places not equipped for cooking, bringing up children, or other aspects of daily life.

One of the problems people rehoused in motels often face, according to the article, is bed bugs:

The city’s health department is concerned about bedbugs, after complaints from residents and reports from school nurses that children from the [Cambridge Gateway Inn] motel appeared to have suffered bites. Sam Lipson, director of environmental health for the Cambridge Public Health Department, said officials worked with the motel in February to address the problems and have heard no new complaints. But hotel guests might be reluctant to complain for fear of being forced out, he added.

“They should feel confident that reporting the presence of bedbugs won’t put them at any risk,’’ Lipson said.

Of course, bed bugs are a problem now in many shelters as well as in permanent housing of every kind (from subsidized affordable units to fancy condos and mansions).

But the state does need to be accountable for keeping people safe and in appropriate housing.

And people living in any kind of housing should not have to worry they will be kicked out if they report the presence of bed bugs.

You can read more here.Similar Posts:

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Guests of a Salvation Army shelter in Wilmington, North Carolina, are suffering from bed bug bites.  And the shelter managers are having trouble getting rid of the problem.

Eleven-year-old Edwin Benitez is covered with bites. Bed bug bites from staying at the Salvation Army. They first appeared a week ago. “It feels humiliating and frightening,” said Edwin.

What an awful thing to have to deal with, on top of everything else.

The article notes that Edwin’s mother Christine Powell says staff told her they’ve been dealing with a bed bug problem for five years.  However,

The Salvation Army officials said the problem started two and a half months ago. In that time, exterminators have sprayed, residents clothes have been washed, and beds sanitized. “We’re doing everything that we possibly can do. We’ve even shut down for a week so we can take out all the mattresses bought all new mattresses,” said Salvation Army’s Maj. Butch Mallard.

Mallard said $10,000 has been spent on getting rid of the bugs, but the problem is the shelter has wooden beds and the bugs live in the frames. The solution would be new metal frames, but there’s no funding.

Mallard says $12,000 is needed for new metal bed frames.

Even if frames and mattresses are replaced, it may not be enough to get rid of the bed bug problem there.

I hope that the shelter is getting good advice from knowledgeable entomologists who know bed bugs well, and good pest control treatment.

I am also concerned about the larger impact of an ongoing bed bug infestation like this.  If the shelter has been battling bed bugs for five years as Powell stated, bed bugs are likely to have been spread to many other locations via guests and staff.

Guests and staff must take specific precautions to avoid spreading bed bugs elsewhere.  There are links to FAQs which may be helpful here.

See the full article here: Unwelcome visitors invade Salvation Army | WWAY NewsChannel 3 | Wilmington NC News, or click here to watch the video from WWAY news.Similar Posts:

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• Bed bugs bite in Richmond, California public housing development

Here’s an excellent discussion between Renee of New York vs. Bed Bugs and Sam Bryks, a pest management expert from Toronto (and one of the advisors of the Toronto Bed Bug Project.

There’s so much that is wonderful here, including a thorough exploration of what Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is, and isn’t.

I particularly enjoyed this tidbit, from which I learned more about the origins of Toronto’s Bug n’ Scrub, a program we’ve long been fans of here at Bedbugger. Sam Bryks says,

An example of a really wonderful program in Toronto is that of Seaton House, the largest shelter. I was asked to visit some years ago and I gave my overview then as well as I could. The shelters were experiencing major problems. One of the staff who has a social work background, Richard Grotsch, decided to use the men in the shelter to attack the problem as part of their looking after themselves and he developed a process of non-chemical treatment and prevention that knocked the problem down amazingly and then, he worked like the devil to get support for those guys providing services to others. They are called the Bug n’ Scrub team and they do fantastic work in helping clean up units in preparation for bed bug treatment. They are very busy.

You gotta love a program that helps people gain very useful skills, gives them work, and gets rid of bed bugs at the same time!

What could be better?

And how interesting and inspiring that it started with residents being asked to learn how to get rid of bed bugs in order to deal with their residence’s infestation.

I can only hope the program spreads.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as the interview goes, so I know you’ll want to read the entire conversation, here. Similar Posts:

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• Towels under the door: when cities abandon tenants with bed bugs
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• Bed bugs in the media: David Cain on British radio, Dr. Susan Jones in the Plain Dealer
• Baltimore’s new Bed Bug Response Plan

The City of Berkeley funds 1/3 of the $600K per year costs of the Men’s Overnight Shelter. And this article in InsideBayArea.com notes the city was to vote Monday night on whether to approve the $51K to “replace carpets with tile or linoleum, replace cloth chairs with plastic ones, encase beds in vinyl covers and buy an industrial dryer for clothing and bedding.”

Mandatory showers and the washing of clothing of incoming guests is an essential part of the shelter’s new plan.

Shelter guests have been bitten so badly that they’ve had to be hospitalized, some multiple times. And at least one shelter guest who was thrown out for complaining about bed bugs (when staff were not as well-informed about the problem as they are now) describes how much better it is to sleep rough in the park, rather than under the conditions of a serious bed bug infestation.

What is most distressing is that the Berkeley Food and Housing Project does not expect to get rid of their bed bug problem. They only hope to get it under control:

The city of Berkeley is planning to spend $51,000 to control an infestation of bedbugs at the Men’s Overnight Shelter downtown that has sent numerous homeless clients to the hospital for treatment.

And what’s worse, officials say there is no end in sight.

“They’re not going to be eradicated, we can only control them,” said Geoff Green, associate director of the Berkeley Food and Housing Project, which runs the shelter.

It’s a realistic approach for shelters in this day and age. But it is extremely sobering.

(No update yet on whether the city’s funding vote went through.)Similar Posts:

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Executive Director of the San Jose Family Shelter, Trish Crowder, told the San Jose Mercury News that the shelter she runs is currently bed bug-free, after battling bed bugs on and off for three years.

They are bed bug-free right now, which makes the shelter unique among shelters:

“It’s really, really scary,” Crowder says, “how few of us there are.”

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A Charlotte, North Carolina shelter that houses women who have suffered domestic violence has evacuated residents for several weeks while bed bugs are removed, according to the Charlotte Observer:

The Charlotte-area United Family Services domestic violence shelter has evacuated its residents to “a safe place” in order to battle a recent infestation of bedbugs, said Libby McLaughlin, vice president of development and communication. The staff anticipates reopening the shelter in two to three weeks.

But the move has added to the difficulties the women face, which include other time constraints. Shelter rules dictate that, upon arrival, residents have 30 days to find a job and another place to stay.

The bites and rashes from the bedbugs have made it hard for some women to find a job. And the medicine given to fight the itching, such as steroids or Benadryl, has triggered the addictions of some women with substance abuse problems.

“People are saying to go back home,” said one anonymous shelter resident. “I don’t have that option, because I’m not going back home.”

One would hope that the normal rules of the shelter would be adapted during such a crisis.

While removed from much more dangerous situations in their homes, these women have still been suffering from a lesser kind of “domestic crisis.” It’s a lot to expect for women who may be losing a lot of sleep and suffering from stress, visible bed bug bites, and itching (which can be quite uncomfortable) to find new jobs and a new home within thirty days.

We’ve previously reported on another Charlotte shelter, the Salvation Army women’s shelter, which houses homeless women, and which has been battling bed bugs off and on for nearly a year. The Salvation Army has apparently spent $50,000 in the last few weeks on renovations aimed at eliminating their bed bug problems.

Meanwhile, the United Family Services shelter has invested in new flooring, mattresses and bedding. It has also purchased a new dryer and new metal frame beds. (It is not mentioned in the article, but I hope they are getting good, aggressive pest control treatment as well.)

Local public health officials stress bed bugs are not a health problem,

“This is not a public health pest,” said Lynn Lathan, environmental health supervisor for the Mecklenburg County Health Department. “They’re annoying, but not transmitting disease.”

However, I personally think that a condition which can cause serious skin irritation, visible welts all over your face and body, other allergic reactions, anxiety and loss of sleep is a health concern.

Nevertheless, the women at United Family Services have worse threats to worry about:

For women in the United Family Services shelter, there’s a choice: Face the bugs in the shelter, or face abuse at home.

“I have a choice of going back to my husband and getting punched in the eye or getting eaten by bugs,” said one anonymous shelter resident.

We can only hope things are better for these women soon.

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A bit of background:

Toronto has had a serious bed bug problem for some time, just like New York, London, San Francisco, Vancouver–I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

The Toronto Star also has a journalist called Joe Fiorito who wrote extensively and repeatedly about how serious a problem bed bugs were, for everyone who gets them, but especially for the poor, the elderly, the disabled. You can see links to just some of Fiorito’s articles on my del.icio.us page. I mention Fiorito because I do not doubt for a moment the effects that good (or bad) journalism can have on public perceptions of the bed bug problem. In Fiorito’s case, the journalism was very good.

Then in November 12, 2007, Toronto City Councillor Paula Fletcher asked the Board of Health (of which she is a member) to take action on bed bugs. This is a PDF of her letter.

Fletcher wrote,

Traditionally Public Health officials consider and have categorized bed bugs as a nuisance because they do not carry and spread communicable diseases. However, ailments stemming from a bed bug infestation can range from secondary infections due to scratching to anxiety, embarrassment, and loss of sleep.

Moreover, residents who experience infestations are faced with considerable financial costs associated with fumigations as well as replacing furniture deemed to be unsalvageable.

Here is a politician who understands the bed bug problem. Clearly, she’s been listening to her constituents.

In the letter, Fletcher specifically asked the Board of Health to

• Review and report on the current procedures for bed bug inspection and control, including changing categorization of bed bugs as a public health ‘hazard’ and the harmonizing pest control under Municipal Licensing which currently deals with pest control relating to mice, cockroaches and termites
• Investigate and report back on a Bed-Bug Furniture Pick-up program
• Investigate and report back on North American best practices, including by-laws relating to sale and disposal of used furniture and mattresses
• [To provide an] Expansion of public education initiatives on measures, particularly to tenants, occupants of multi-residential units and users of shelters
• Report on the City’s regulatory authority to require action from property Owners, Operators of Hotels and Other Multi-unit dwellings including
  o Requirements for control and prevention, including pest control management plans included as part of landlord licensing requirements
  o Requirements for responding to complaints
  o Procedures for reporting to City officials
  o Treatment and control of bedbugs in hotel rooms
  o Guidelines for pest control companies
  o Responsibilities of tenants and homeowners

Fletcher noted that even though property owners are responsible for bed bug eradication, there is a need due to the “resilient and migratory nature” of bed bugs, for government agencies to re-examine their practices regarding the pest.

In response, Dr. David McKeown, the Toronto Medical Officer, unveiled a proposal for dealing with bed bugs last month. He asked the Board of Health to take action, outlined in this PDF.

McKeown’s report opened with a brief introductory paragraph, followed by this statement:

Bed bug infestations occur in all neighbourhoods and communities in the City and most households deal with the problem without assistance from the Municipality. This is not the case with the most vulnerable populations in our community. In recent months, Toronto Public Health has devoted significant resources to deal with severe infestations impacting on the health of the elderly, those living with physical and mental health issues and people living in poverty. This report is intended to focus primarily on strategies to ensure that vulnerable people get the assistance they need to lead independent, pest free lives.

The Medical Officer of Health’s made a series of proposals to the Board of Health (outlined in the same PDF) to deal with bed bugs.

The Board of Health then met on 2/26, and (as outlined in this PDF):

1. requested the Medical Officer of Health to establish an action committee comprised of city divisions, housing providers, health care organizations, social services, community groups, representatives of landlords and tenants, and other appropriate stakeholders to develop a comprehensive action plan to reduce bed bug infestations in the City of
Toronto with particular emphasis on vulnerable populations;

2. requested the Medical Officer of Health to report on the progress of the action committee within six months;

3. requested the government of Ontario to incorporate the issue of bed bug infestations in their poverty reduction strategy; and

4. referred all communications/submissions, and the following motions to the new Action Committee described in Recommendation 1:

Motion by Valerie Sterling:
“That Recommendation 1 be amended by adding the words “and in addition, consider broader public education and social marketing strategy to address the stigma associated with having bed bugs.”

Motion by Councillor Fletcher:
“That the Medical Officer of Health and TorontoPublic Health be requested to educate the medical community in identification of bed bug bites.”

This CBC article which was written in advance of the meeting notes that Toronto’s public health department surveyed PCOs about the increase in bed bug cases. This is the easiest way to get a realistic picture of the number of cases in a city, though of course those who self-treat will be left out.

Toronto Public Health surveyed 12 pest control companies in December 2007 and received six responses. All six reported an increase in numbers of inquires and calls related to bedbugs from 2006 to 2007. The majority of calls were in apartment buildings.

This was an informal check with just 12 companies. Remember the study done in Toronto in 2003? That year, every PCO reported every case of bed bugs in the city (well, theoretically, anyway). Most cases then were in single family homes. That might sound strange to some, since bed bugs are now a much bigger problem in apartment buildings, but it’s fully plausible.

Anyway, the Toronto officials know that if you want to know who has bed bugs in your city, you don’t simply rely on tracking official housing violations (as the New York government is trying to do) or official complaints to the Toronto Public Health Department. You ask the PCOs. Obviously, in this case this is just an informal inqury, not an official study (like the one in 2003). But the principle is the same.

A Toronto Sun article last December noted that the Toronto Public Health Department had gotten 160 calls about bed bugs in the first nine months of 2006. But Reg Ayre, the city’s Healthy Environments manager, said back then that anecdotal evidence from PCOs showed much higher incidence of bed bugs. One PCO claimed to be treating 1200 cases a year, another claimed to treat 400-600 a month (more on that below). You can read more about this here. (Sadly, I cannot link to the original article, since the Toronto Sun is holding out on us, so you’ll have to make do with the report I did on it in December.)

There were other documents associated with the Board of Health meeting, including several fact sheets and this: a PDF of a Toronto Community Housing proposal for dealing with bed bugs in public housing. (The key components, not surprisingly, are educating staff about bed bugs, educating tenants about bed bugs, getting both to cooperate, and using only qualified pest control contractors).

Bed bugs are clearly a problem that is far more serious than current Toronto Public Health data. The officials in Toronto are smart to recognize this. Here in New York, city officials seem happy to cite the number of bed bug cases in NYCHA public housing, or the NYCHPD housing violations for bed bugs, though it is obvious to us that these are just the tip of the iceberg.

The action we’re seeing in Toronto seems to stem in part from

• a vocal and forward-thinking city councillor taking up the cause of bed bugs,
• a persistent and talented journalist taking up the cause of bed bugs,
• a Board of Health willing to re-consider the definition of a “health hazard,”
• a Medical Officer of Health looking deeper into available bed bug statistics, and prioritizing the issue.

Doubtless, there are many more factors I can’t yet see. In any case, I am grateful for all those working to solve this problem in Toronto, and anywhere else.

I can’t overestimate how significant it is that Fletcher and the Board of Health were willing to consider bed bugs as having a significant effect on health. On February 26, other issues the Board of Health was dealing with included the provision of dental care to people on low incomes, and a plan for dealing with an inflenza pandemic. Deadly possibilities like an infleunza pandemic must be planned for, but we also need to deal with bed bugs, even if the health effects are not deadly.

I hope that cities which have not yet taken action will use the work being done elsewhere as a starting point. McKeown’s report, for example, cited what was being done to deal with bed bugs in Vancouver, and Hamilton (Ontario). Problems may vary from place to place, but the bed bug enemy is the same, and cities would do well to use the best practices beginning to be developed elsewhere as a starting point.

I look forward to hearing more from Toronto.

Many thanks to hopelessnomo for helping me think about this issue and for providing the location of the Board of Health’s document stash. Similar Posts:

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According to Channel 12 WKRC in Cincinnati (doesn’t Howard Hesseman work there?), residents at the Hillrise Apartment building, which is owned by Cincinnati Business & Professional Women’s Retirement Living Incorporated, are suffering from various issues including bed bugs.

Calvin Merritt’s problems at Hillrise Apartments are pretty simple.

“Mostly bugs, roaches and all that…”

The “all that” is bed bugs. Dead ones were easy to find under Calvin’s mattress, and piles of them behind the bed. When exterminators come in to spray here, their work’s easy to see, pesticide stains run down Calvin’s walls. Calvin pays 313 dollars a month for this one bedroom…what little furniture he had was mostly pitched, because it was infested.

Calvin Merritt, Resident: “I done lost everything got here, my couch, my other chairs, all the stuff I had was new, I had to get rid of all of that.”

At the other end of the hall, Jeanette Jessie doesn’t have any bedbugs, but she worries about them just the same.

Jeanette Jessie, Resident: “They just spread them from one end of the building to the other, this is crazy, get this place cleaned up, spray it at one time and get rid of this mess.”

It sounds a bit like the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in Washington DC, Halcyon House in Denver, and Warren Towers in East Moline, Illinois. Elderly people, disabled people, and anyone in low-income housing is being dealt a raw deal when it comes to getting rid of bed bugs. Let’s face it, bed bugs are expensive to treat. They’re also a rather sudden problem no one was expecting and no one has budgeted for.

Bed bugs are difficult to treat, too. Traditional treatments require multiple pest control visits at short intervals. Residents must prepare for treatment, which can be a lengthy process and costly too (especially for those on a fixed income).

However, make no mistake: non-aggressive treatment (treating only some of the infested units, treating at too-long intervals, or not coming as many times as needed), waiting for tenants who might be unaware they have bed bugs to report them, and not providing assistance with preparation costs and physical labor–all of these reactions from landlords and housing managers mean that bed bugs will be around longer, spread into more units, and cost much more to get rid of.

It just does not make sense on any practical level to not be aggressive, thorough, and quick to treat bed bugs in a building you are responsible for. It is simply a display of ignorance about the nature of this beast.

We can’t entirely blame landlords for this ignorance; none of us were expecting bed bugs. But we need to educate the public about the signs of bed bugs, and we need to educate professionals in all walks of life (from those who provide housing, to hospitality services, to health care, education, and on and on) about the need for a bed bug protocol which includes both proactive searching for signs of bed bugs, and swift reactions to any bed bug signs or sightings.

Too many people seem to be hoping they’ll just go away. Good luck with that. In the meantime:

Channel 12 reports,

Officials from the Cincinnati Health Department tell us they’ll soon be taking a closer look at conditions in the apartments.

I love the Cincinnati Health Department. But you knew that.Similar Posts:

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Some days, there’s so much bedbug news, I can’t keep up.

First, this item from NJ.com about an infested building South Jersey (Jamestown Square in Blackwood, NJ) makes me wonder: what if there was a newspaper item for every single infested building in New York?!? The New York Times would have to use a 4-point font. That’s the second bed bug infestation reported on NJ.com today.

Then there’s the Salvation Army Women’s Shelter in Charlotte, North Carolina, as reported by News 14. (Click the link at top right to watch the video.) The shelter houses 300 women and they’re busy “cleaning” and coating wooden bunk beds in polyurethene to seal cracks. They are instituting new rules about washing clothes frequently and not bringing in lots of stuff. But let’s hope they get a good PCO treating every two weeks until they are completely gone, because no amount of cleaning or sealing alone will do the trick.Similar Posts:

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Now we’re getting somewhere.

For years, when they mentioned bed bugs at all, which was rarely, the press was talking about people with bed bug infestations needing to do some laundry, throw out a mattress, maybe move. (All insufficient and/or not helpful, as we know.)

Some news outlets are still at this level. Their refrain: it’s a nuisance: spray the college dorm once, send the kids to do laundry, no problem. (Wrong!) Be glad you don’t live in a shelter, where this is such a problem. The tone of these recent articles is not much of an improvement over 2003’s example: “Those silly hipsters in Greenpoint: it looks like trash-picking mattresses can lead to pesky problems.”

Just weeks ago, we started seeing reports that took it to the next level: admitting things are getting out of hand in isolated places (like residential apartments for seniors in Boston, Single Room Occupancy apartments in NYC, low-income housing, and so on). Those media outlets that have made it to this level are pointing out that it’s more than a nuisance. That tossing furniture is spreading the problem, and that the poor and moderate income citizens can’t afford this experience (who can?)

And now, the Toronto Star has taken it to another level:

Pest control experts predict bedbugs are their new cash cow, and that within five years, they will be more common than mice, roaches and carpenter ants.

You have to read on, though, and read between the lines to see that eradicating bed bugs is nowhere near as easy as eradicating roaches, mice, and rats.

The Star does note that the poorest are the hardest hit (as they are when any force of nature or man-made disaster hits). But the words above are astounding: what person has not once had roaches, mice or ants invade a dwelling? (Many, of course, have had more than one of these, or had one again and again.) House-holder, rich, famous?

Not immune.

The article spells this out: In 2003 1/2 of Toronto bed bug victims were householders; only 1/4 were in apartments.

It goes on,

To rid a home costs between $300 and $650 for the first treatment, with $65 a month for re-treatments until the pests have been eradicated. Apartments are less expensive, costing between $200 and $300 but treating them there is more difficult.

One suite in an building can spray their space diligently, vacuum their mattress daily, cover belongings in plastic, steam-clean the upholstery, dryclean clothes and replace bedding. But if the suite next door has neither the time nor the finances to do so, the space will be re-infested within days. It’s a problem Dancyger knows too well. In April his apartment was sprayed. He was free of the bugs for only two days before they came creeping back.

The Star also does a nice job of outlining the lack of government response, one we’re seeing elsewhere too:

Toronto Public Health won’t say there’s a problem.

Except for City Assemblywoman Gale Brewer, New York City officials are not taking on board their responsibilities. This will be a huge problem and is growing daily. And yet at a recent City Council Hearing on bed bugs in NYC, another city official from the Dept. of Consumer Affairs argued that poor people needed the right to buy reconditioned (=used) mattresses (to save a whopping $50).

That’s ignorance of what this pest can do to the child sleeping on that mattress, and her family, her neighbors, landlord, and so on. This can spread from one bed to a whole neighborhood: from bed to subway station bench to workplace to school, and then home with anyone who uses any of those. These sound like paranoid thoughts, but at the Bedbugger yahoo group, we’ve heard multiple stories of people who moved from their homes with the utmost care, taking every precaution, going so far as to ditch virtually all their belongings, and nevertheless, somehow, “moved” their problem with them. They spread easily.

Would a public official who knew the threat he was dealing with say such a thing? No. And there are plenty of entomologists and pest control operators who can tell us how bad this is, let alone the sufferers. We know. Listen to us.

Nice work, Toronto Star: you raised the bar on bed bug stories in the news. I hope we see more reports that are designed to wake people up.

And I want to hear more about the middle class and upper-middle class sufferers. We know they’re out there, but they’re ashamed (just like the poor people). I know this is especially bad in SROs, shelters, low-income housing, but until we’re seeing rich people on Fox news talking about how they had to throw away their prized posessions and live like monks, sitting on metal chairs and sleeping on air mattresses– until we see rich people crying because they unwittingly spread bedbugs to a sick elderly parent, who is really suffering– until then, some people are going to be stuck on the “it’s just a problem for the poor” idea. And they are so wrong.Similar Posts:

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